The Town of Marsh Harbour (near the point of the 'arrow' of land pointing right at the eye in guno's satellite photo above,) in Abaco, Bahamas, has a population of about 6300. It lies directly in the path of the storm at this moment. It is about to take a direct eyewall hit with the full force of the hurricane for an extended period of time as the storm slows down.
Marsh Harbour has a maximum elevation of 13 feet.
The expected storm surge under the eye of the storm is 15 to 20 feet.
The eyewall will hit the town soon. The Cat 5 storm now has peak gusts over 200 mph winds.
Hopefully, everyone has been evacuated either off the Island or at least to higher ground. The highest point on Abaco Island is 134'.
Marsh Harbour is about to become a sandbar pounded by a ferocious sea for a long time.
Here is an NPR phone interview from
5PM yesterday:
"MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: ... we're going to turn to the Bahamas, where they are bracing for Hurricane Dorian. The Category 4 storm is gaining strength and approaching Category 5 status. It's expected to make landfall on the northwestern part of the islands tomorrow, and some short-term models predict as much as 64 inches of rain could could fall over the Northern Bahamas once the storm stalls. Joining us from the Bahamas is Rick Lohr. He is the general manager of the Abaco Beach Resort. That's
in Marsh Harbour on the island of Abaco, which is in the path of the storm.
Mr. Lohr, thanks so much for joining us.
RICK LOHR: My pleasure.
MARTIN: Could you just tell us what the weather is like right now?
LOHR: Well, currently, it's been blue day. I mean, we've had some bands of rain come through from time to time, but it's a nice day. The water is calm. It's clouding up a little bit.
MARTIN: Do you have any guests at the resort at the moment?
LOHR: Oh, yes. Well, we have some media people, and we have some insurance people. We have people locally that have come in. The resort is well-prepared for this type of situation because we have generators, we have water. So should anything - disaster happen, we're self-sufficient.
MARTIN: And I understand that a number of resorts have already closed. And I understand that the Grand Bahama International Airport has closed. You were telling me earlier that you've been through a number of storms in the past. You know, you're from Florida, and you've been through some things on the islands and throughout the Caribbean. But how does this one feel in comparison to others that you've been through, if you can kind of try to describe that for me?
LOHR: Most certainly. You watch the speed of the storm - how fast the winds are and the level of rain and water and water surges. But as this is growing - and this one here is - the last time I monitored, it was eight miles an hour, which is slow. So the slower they are, the longer they're going to last and the more rain you're going to get. And you're going to have a lot more potential damage when that happens.
MARTIN: You sound very calm, which I appreciate.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: You've been through these before, as you mentioned. But for people who haven't, what do you recommend that people do at a time like this to prepare? I mean, obviously you want to, you know, charge up your phones and your devices and secure your property as best you can. But what should they do right now?
LOHR: Honestly, water is very important. Be patient. Get as much as you can from the standpoint of water because when you don't have water, it's critical. So fill your bathtubs up. Fill any jugs up if you've got it. Go get some fresh water, bottled water. You know, get - if you've got a generator, make sure you've got your gas. Make sure you've got gas for your vehicles. And then stay in the house until the storm is completely gone. You know, think about your neighbors. Think about your fellow man. You know, everybody be safe. Work together. And, you know, work through this thing because there's nothing you can do.
MARTIN: That was Rick Lohr. He's the general manager of Abaco Beach Resort. That's in Marsh Harbour on the island of Abaco."
Hope they did have those vehicles gassed up and got everybody out of there. The place they stayed last night isn't going to be there tonight.
Marsh Harbour is about to be
erased.
NPR
Here is a link to West Palm Beach weather radar. If you drag and pan to the East, you can see Marsh Harbour indicated, and the progress of Hurricane Dorian, the most powerful storm to ever hit the NW Bahamas to date.
WPB Radar
